Palestinian peace deal seemed remote before, it looks downright unattainable after a stormy week of leaks of confidential Mideast protocols by Al-Jazeera TV. The disclosures hurt the credibility of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas among his people, weakening him as a leader. They deepened the chasm between him and Hamas, distancing already faint hopes of restoring Palestinian unity as the militants burned him in effigy and branded him a traitor. The papers also affirmed that there seems virtually no chance of a deal between Abbas and hard-line Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu without more forceful US intervention. If Abbas and Netanyahu's more pragmatic predecessor, Ehud Olmert, couldn't close the gaps – even if they came close on some issues, as the transcripts show – it's unlikely the current leaders will be able to. The Obama administration says it hasn't given up, but hasn't signaled whether it's ready to put its own ideas on the table. On substance, the documents haven't offered many surprises. In 2008, Abbas and Olmert got down to details, with Israel asking to annex 6.5 percent of the West Bank and the Palestinians offering to trade 1.9 percent. As part of the swap, Abbas was ready to let Israel keep all but one of the Jewish enclaves built in east Jerusalem after 1967, now home to 200,000 Israelis. While Abbas had not said publicly that he offered to give up large tracts of East Jerusalem, it couldn't have come as a shock to Palestinians. Such a tradeoff was already proposed a decade ago by then-US president Bill Clinton, as part of parameters still widely seen today as the foundation of any deal. The leaks quoted Abbas as telling Palestinian negotiators in a 2009 meeting that it is “illogical to ask Israel to take five million or indeed a million.” Such a demand, he said, “would mean the end of Israel.” However, Israel's offer at the time, to take 5,000, is unacceptable, he added. Abbas has never shared such assessments with the Palestinian public. In part, he may have wanted to avoid making inadvertent concessions to Israel by discussing the issue openly. But he may also have been fearful of a massive outcry. The “right of return” goes to the emotional core of the conflict with Israel, since a majority of Palestinians live in exile, including camps scattered across the region. Some argue the leaks could force a more candid public debate among Palestinians. The Palestinian split is a major obstacle to any peace deal, because Abbas cannot negotiate for all Palestinians. And after the Al-Jazeera leaks, Abbas may also be more reluctant to make concessions.
